Chapter 513: Captive
Editor: Atlas Studios
Qi Haoran chased after them for almost a month and finally caught them. However, even so, he only caught one team of West Xia soldiers, the team that slaughtered the village. The other two teams had never been seen. Even the people Qi Haoran sent out had disappeared without a trace. It was unknown if they had been discovered, surrounded by bandits, or had escaped on their own.
Order collapsed and the entire Great Zhou was in chaos. If not for Qi Haoran suppressing them, all the soldiers under him would probably have run away.
Pinning the West Xia general underneath him, Qi Haoran punched him and knocked out two of his teeth. He asked fiercely, “Tell me, where are the other two teams planning to go and what are they going to do?”
The West Xia general glared at Qi Haoran viciously and did not speak. Qi Haoran sneered and tapped his body before pressing his chin down. Only then did he stand up and kick the person below him. He said to his companions, “I originally wanted to relax, but it seems like it’s impossible now. Bring them back and interrogate them one by one. Let them have a taste of the torture tools in the prison.”
“General, that’s Chief Liu’s territory. Isn’t it inappropriate to take them back?” Would these people still be under their control if they were taken back?
However, Qi Haoran said confidently, “Don’t worry. Chief Liu and Chief Lin are righteous and won’t stop us.”
Due to the chaos on the south road of Jinghu, Liu Dahei and Lin Man were naturally not satisfied with staying in Huaiyuan County. Therefore, they took advantage of the chaos and the collapse of the bandit alliance to run out with their men, occupying three county cities in one go.
Qi Haoran, who was following them, originally wanted to stop them, but after hearing that West Xia and the Jin Kingdom had launched a large-scale invasion and that the general had been assassinated, he let it go. However, he did not allow Liu Dahei and Lin Man to kill too much.
Most of the people guarding the county were bailiffs. Putting aside the bailiffs in the county that had been captured in the past, the county magistrate and some other officials would definitely have been purged. However, perhaps taking into account Qi Haoran’s feelings, Liu Dahei and Lin Man no longer took the initiative to kill the officials.
It was still fine if they encountered some upright officials. Liu Dahei and Lin Man would let them continue with their original duties. If they were unwilling, they would casually pack up two bags and throw them out of the city. As for corrupt officials or those who had killed innocent lives, even if Liu Dahei and Lin Man did not order them to be killed, the subordinates could not take it. Such corrupt officials would easily die when the bandits charged into or raided the houses. Fortunately, most of the families of those officials survived.
Qi Haoran didn’t care about this. Seeing this, Liu Dahei and Lin Man didn’t stop their men from doing this.
Qi Haoran’s identity was well-hidden. Other than Liu Dahei, Lin Man, and a few people around them, no one knew that he was an official of the Imperial Court. He almost didn’t participate in the matters between Liu Dahei and Lin Man. Instead, he brought his men out almost every day. Liu Dahei and Lin Man knew that he was looking for the West Xia soldiers.
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Originally, they thought that he would be able to leave very soon. Who knew that they would miraculously meet again along the way? Hence, the two of them could only continue to tolerate an Imperial Court official chasing after them.
Now, Qi Haoran had gone out for two days and returned with more than ten West Xia captives. Naturally, Liu Dahei had to ask. When he found out that it was the West Xia soldiers they had been chasing, he asked with interest, “Didn’t you say that there were about 500 of them? Why are there only these ten or so?”
“When we bumped into them, there were only about 100 of them. Moreover, they were a tired army, so I set up an ambush and killed them. It was enough to leave behind a dozen captives for interrogation. Any more and it would be difficult to escort them back.”
Liu Dahei shivered. He thought for a moment and asked, “Didn’t you advise us not to kill the captives?”
Qi Haoran asked curiously, “How is this the same? Those are from our Great Zhou Dynasty and these are West Xia soldiers. Besides, I didn’t kill any captives. It’s just that I didn’t capture so many.”
At that time, they were fighting a war. Wasn’t it normal for people to die in a war? If not for the sake of obtaining more information and easily prying open some mouths, he wouldn’t even want to capture these ten or so people and would just kill them.
Unfortunately, the leader seemed to be a little stubborn. In order to have more sources, he could only leave behind more captives.
Qi Haoran used the interrogation method deployed by the prison. Liu Dahei went to take a look with great interest, wanting to see Qi Haoran’s interrogation methods.
However, when Liu Dahei followed him to the prison, he saw Qi Haoran turn around and instruct the prison bailiff who was in charge of punishment to interrogate those people. “Just don’t let them die.” Qi Haoran left a regiment commander behind to assist in the interrogation before turning to leave.
Liu Dahei turned to look at those people and hurriedly followed him out. “Why aren’t you questioning them yourself?”
“I’m not good at this. What can I find out from them? I’ve already used the methods I know before. It’s useless. If I use any more strength, those people will die. I’ll leave it to the prison bailiff to do it. Considering they have various methods and are ruthless, they should be able to find out something.”
Liu Dahei lowered his eyes, then looked up and said with a smile, “You’re quite honest. You knew that you wouldn’t do it, so you didn’t do it. And you’re not afraid to let others know if there’s something you don’t know how to do…”
Qi Haoran said inexplicably, “I’m a general. As long as I know how to lead troops to war, it’s fine. These things can be handed over to the subordinates. I just want results. Since there are specializations in every field, how can I possibly know everything?”
Liu Dahei repeated the phrase ‘there are specializations in every field’ twice and sighed. “Those who have studied are indeed different. I’ve learned something.”
Qi Haoran was very displeased that Liu Dahei could attribute everything to studying. How obsessed was he with studying?
Qi Haoran waved his hand and said, “Alright, I’ll go back and wash up first.” After running around for two days, he was not only dirty and tired, but he was also famished. He really didn’t have the time to chat with Liu Dahei.
However, Liu Dahei stopped him with a smile and said, “Brother Qi, since these people have entered my prison, let my subordinates assist your guy. Don’t worry, they definitely won’t stop you from interrogating him. Do whatever you have to do. My subordinates will just help hand over a whip or something.”
Qi Haoran knew that he also wanted to obtain the news. Qi Haoran had meant to ask for their help to deal with West Xia together anyway, so he nodded and agreed without thinking.
Liu Dahei smiled slightly, then turned around and called his trusted aides to go to the prison to assist in the interrogation. He emphasized to his men the need to memorize their questions and answers.
Lin Man was waiting for him at Liu Dahei’s house. When he saw him return, he opened his eyes and glanced at him. He asked, “Brother, are we really going to let Qi Haoran follow us forever?”
Previously, Liu Dahei and Lin Man were in two teams. After teaming up to deal with Qi Haoran previously, they realized that their personalities were quite compatible. In addition, it was too chaotic outside now. They were too weak when separated, but when their groups were combined, one was unwilling to be subordinate to the other. Hence, they were now in an alliance. Although there were conflicts among their men, they generally got along peacefully.
However, it was very strange for Qi Haoran to get involved in their alliance. This was because they were all bandits and Qi Haoran was an official. Previously, the situation was disadvantageous to them. With Qi Haoran staying here, it would serve as their escape route, so Lin Man was naturally happy to treat him as a VIP. However, now that the situation was leaning in their favor and the Great Zhou regime was in danger, wouldn’t it be too stupid for them to let Qi Haoran continue following them?